Aeroplane.



M. B. CUMBLER.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1911.

1.395197% Patnted Mar. 4,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

M Ewm BENT CUMBLERJ 1-1! I my M. B. CUMBLER.

A-EROPLANE.

APPLICATION mm NOV. 20. 1917.

1,295,979. 1 v Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ori ioit.

MELVIN BENT CUMBLER, OF HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

AEROIPLANE.

Specification .of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 4,1919.

Application filed November20, 1917. Serial No. 202,965. g

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN BENT CUM- BLER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Harrisburg, in the county of Dauphin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAeroplanes,of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings.

his invention relates to aeroplanes and has for its object the provisionof means for assisting in sustaining the aeroplane and preventing itstoo quick descent in case of anything going Wrong with the engine.

A further object is to provide in connection with an aeroplane, anauxiliary plane shiftable into or out of operative position,

- and provide in connection with the auxiliary plane a gas bag or gasfield, which becomes distended and in operative position when.

the auxiliary plane is elevated to its operative position.

A further object of the invention is to provide in connection with theauxiliary plane and balloon or gas field, gas tanks containing gas underrelatively high pressure and in which the gas is confined when operativeposition, the

to flow from these tan s into the balloon or gas field when theauxiliary plane is shifted to its operative position.

A further object is to. provide means whereby guy wires connecting theauxiliary plane to the frame of the machine become effective when theauxiliary plane is elevated, and still another object is to provideimproved means for latching the auxiliary plane in either its lowered orits elevated position, this means being under the control of theaviator.

Other "objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, whereinFigure 1 is a front elevation of'a biplane with the auxiliary plane andgas field in its raised and operative position, the fuselage of themachine at the forward end being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation of an aeroplane of the biplane typewith my improved auxiliary plane and gas bag connected thereto, theaux'iliarv plane being depressed and the gas bag deflated;

1 of a portion of the fixed plane,

. plane 0 Fig. 3 is a fragmentary .side elevationof the aeroplane,.as inFig.2, but With the auxiliary plane and gas field raised and inon theline 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 isa fragmentary vertical sectional view through .the uppermostfixed plane and one of the standards for-supporting the auxiliary plane;

Fig. 8 is avertical sectional-view through the uppermost: fixed planeand the auxiliary plane and gasbag showing the latter deflated and theauxiliary plane in lowered position, the bracing struts for the fixedframe being in. elevation and Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective viewthe auxiliary plane, gas bag and hinged cover'for the forward edge ofthe auxiliary plane;-

Referrin to these drawings, it will be seen that have illustrated= my=improve" ment as applied to a flying machine-of the biplane type, thoughI do not wish to limit my invention to this application of it.' In

these figures, 10 designates the lower fixedthe flying machine :and 1-1the upper fixed plane. The machine is provided with the usual fuselageincluding the vertical struts 12, the aviators seat 13, andthe'coutrolling wheel 14. I do not believe it neces sary to describe theconstruction of this machine, as it is of any ordinary or commonconstruction. Neither have I believed it necessary to illustrate theidin rudders or the elevating or depressing ru ders nor the means forwarping the wing tips as these form no part of my present invention.

Normally resting upon the upper plane 11, Y and conforming:approximately in shape thereto, is the auxiliary plane 15. Thisauxiliary plane is carried-upon standards which are formed of two.telescopicsections. -Removable sections are designated '16 and thereareas many-of these movable sections as may be desired; These sections 16telescope-- within the tubular sections 17 which are at-- tached to thevfuselage or to the lower plane 'pand into the gas bag 10 in any suitablemanner. Each movable section 16 is formed adjacent its lower end with arecess 18 adapted to be engaged by a spring actuated latch 19 mountedupon the section 17 the latch operating through a perforation in thesection. The section 16 is urged upward by means-of a spring 20 withinthe section 17 when the latch 19 is released and when it moves upwardthe recess 18 will be engaged by a spring actuated latch 21 mounted uponthe section 17 adjacent its upper end. It will thus be seen thatnormally the plane 15 will be held downward in proximity to the plane 11against the action of the springs 20 but that upon a retraction of thelatches 19, each standard 16 will be forced upward until the auxiliaryplane 15 is elevated as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 and that thelatches 21 will hold the standard sections 16 in their elevatedpositions.

Attached to the underside of the plane 15 is a gas bag or gas field 22which has a length approximately equal to the length of the plane 15 andso formed that when inflated the forward surface of the gas bag willextend upward and toward the forward edge of the plane 15. This gas bagis designed to be of any suitable capacity and is normally deflated. Forthe purpose of inflating the gas bag, I provide one or more tanks,illustrated as two in number, and designated 23 which are carried uponthe fuselage of the machine in any suitable manner and extending upwardfrom these tanks, through the plane 11, are the gas pipes 24:.

Connecting the upper pipes 24 with the gas bag 22 are the flexible pipes25 which have a larger diameter than the pipes 2 1. When the auxiliaryplane 15 is disposed in contiguity with the plane 11 and the gas bag isdeflated, the gas bag will be folded between the planes 15 and 11 in themanner illustrated in Fig. 8, the flexible pipe being also folded up inthe Space between the planes 11 and 15. When, however, the latches 19are released, the valves 26 in the gas pipes 24 will be opened, allowingthe compressed gas within the tanks 23 to ex- 22 as the auxiliary planeand gas bag move upward and thus the gas bag will be inflated and becomeoperative as a supporting gas field. The valves 26 may be of anysuitable character and I have shown them as rotatable valves having arms27 operatively connected by means of wires or cables 28 to a pedal 29mounted upon fuselage in convenient relation to the 'drivers seat.Cables or wires 30 also connect the latches 19 to this pedal 29 so thatwhen the pedal 29 is depressed by the operator, the valves 26 will beopened and the latches 19 released at the same time. do not wish to belimited to any particular ends of these gas manner of guidingthese'cables or wires 28 and 30 from the various latches 19 and thevalves 26 to the pedal but preferably they will pass over pulleys 31 asillustrated in Fig. 5. Any suitable direction changing means may beused, however.

For the purpose of preventing wind pressure from entering in the spacebetween the auxiliary plane 15 and the plane 11 when the plane 15 andthe plane 11 are disposed 111 contiguity, hinged cover 33, hinged as at34: to the lower plane 11 and having the curved edge adapted to engageover sutficient to hold the pressure, upward movement of. the auxiliaryplane under the action of the springs20. Under this action, when themembers16 are released, the auxiliary plane 15 will move upward andautomatically throw the cover 33 to an open position, as in Fig, 3. Itis necessary to guy the auxiliary plane 15 and for this reason I providethe guy wires 35 which cross each other as illustrated in Fig. 3 andprovide the forwardly and rearwardl y extending guy wires 36'. These guywires cover closed by wind under the action of the springs, these guy asin Fig. 8, I'provide a but not suflicient to prevent the.

the plane 15 to an extent 1 wires will be rendered taut. It will benoted that the recess18. is sufliciently longer than the latch 21 as topermit rings 20 tostill urge the members 16 upward where they are:

latched in thelr projected *positions, thus,

placin a spring tension on the guy wires 1 In Fig. 6 I illustrate meanswhereby themembers 17 may be braced from the adja=-- cent struts 12,this means comprising a clamp 37 having sleeves embracing the strut andmember 17 respectively, being provided with eyes 38 for the attachmentof guy wiresfl I The operation of this irfvention will be obvious.Normally the auxiliary plane 15 is disposed as in Fig. 2, previouslyfolded up between the auxiliary. plane and the plane 11 and the guywires 36 and 35 beingalso folded up between these planes. In Fig. 2these guy wires 36 are illustrated as being loose but this is purelyillustrative as the guy wires will be relatively taut, butthe slackportions thereof will be between the two planes. If now,

anything happens to the engine, so that it becomes necessary for theaviator to descend and it is desirable toiliary supporting power, theoot pedal 29 is depressed, which immediately releases the the gas bag 22having rovide auxand this clamp 1 machine to descend relativelygradually to the ground, without the necessity of gliding downward for along distance order to make a landing.

' In actual practice'I have found that the auxiliary plane and. the gasbag, when folded up as in 2, will not impede the forward movement of theaeroplane to any 'could pl ne and thus a longer distance would have tobe traveled in order to reach the ground than here a steep. inclinationwas neces- 'great extent and will not prevent or impede the perfectoperation of the aeroplane for the usual iflying. he device adds greatlyto the safety of the machine and in war would do away, to aconsiderableextent, of landing within the enemys lines, as the aviatorownward' at a less inclination sary in order-to secure suflicient airpressure as to sustain the machine inthe air. Furthermore if, whenbanking, the .angle of the machine became dangerous so that the machinewould side slip, itv would be only necessary for the aviator to releasethe auxiliary plane and gas bag in order to secure a propers'ustentation of the machine. Of

course it will-beobvious that the principle of my invention ,may beapplied to various forms of aeroplanes and that various modificationsmight be made in the details of construction without departing from the"spirit of the invention.

Having .describedmy invention, what I claim is:

\ 1. In a flying machine, a main fixed plane,-

anauxiliary plane movable toward or from the main fixed plane, meansurging the A auxiliary plane away from the fixed plane, means forsupporting and guiding-theauxiliaryplane in its 1 movement, means forholding the auxiliarly plane in conti 'ty with the fixed plane, anormally de ated gas bag carried-by the auxiliary plane, a gas tankcontaining gas under pressure, and manually controlled means forreleasing the auxiliary plane to permit it to shift to an operative.position and for simultaneously opening-communication between the gasfixed plane, an auxiliary plane disposed in;

tank and the gas bag.

. 2. Al flying machme including a main contiguity and above the mainfixed plane,

a gas. bag attached to th e underside of the auxiliary frame andnormally deflated, tubular standards carriedby the machine,

supporting sectionstelescoping into said tubularjstandards and attachedto the auxiliary plane, sprin surging the sections and theauxiliary pane upward, latches re sisting the upward movementof thesections and theauxiliary plane, a gas tank having gas under pressure, a partly flexibleconductor affording communicatio between the gas tank and the gas bag, ava ve thereposed above the upper fixed plane, a gas bag'attached to theunderside of the upper fixed plane; tubular standards mountedpn thefuselage, standard sections attached to the auxiliary plane and"extending down into said tubular standards, springs urging thesectionsupward, latches resisting the upward movement of the sections and oftheauxiliary plane,

gas tanks mounted 'on the fuselage and having upwardly extend ing pipesextending through the upper fixed I plane, flexible pipes connected tothe fixed pipes and opening into the gas bag, valves on 4 the fixed es,manually controlled means for 's' ultaneously opening said valves anddisengaging said latches, and

springs disposed in the tubular standards urging the shiftable sectionsupward when the latches are released.

4. In a flying machine, a 'fuselage having an upper fixed plane, anauxiliary plane disposed above the upper fixed plane, a gas bag attachedto the underside of the auxiliary plane, tubular standards mounted onthe auxiliary plane and exten ing down into said tubular standards, sprngs urging .the'fuselage, standard sections Fttached to the" sectionsupward, latches resisting the upward movement of the sections and of theauxiliary plane, gas tanks mounted on the fuselage and havin upwardlyextend ing pipes extending ft rough the "upper fixed plane,flexiblepipeswonnected to the fixed pipes and opening into the gas bag,

-valves on the fixed pipes, manually con- ,trolledmeans forsimultaneously opening said valves and disengaging said latches,

springs disposed in the tubular standards urging the shiftable sectionsupward when the latches are released, and spring actuated latchesengaging the shiftable "sections in their raised posltions. A

5. A flying machine including a fixed plane, an auxiliary plane disposedabove thefixed plane, means for supporting the auxil-- iary plane andshifting it from a position of contiguity with the fixed plane to araised position, a'normally deflected gas bag mounted upon the auxiliaryplane and normally disposed between theauxiliaryp'lane and the fixedplane, a gas tank having valved communication' with the gas bag, meansfor urging the auxiliary plane upward to araised position,means'for-holding. the auxiliary plane in'a depressed position, and acover hinged to the vforward edge of the fixed plane and extendingoverfthe forward edge of the auxiliary plane closing the space betweentat said planes when the auxiliary plane is disposed in contiguity tothe fixed plane.

6. In a flying machine, a fuselage having an upper fixed plane, anauxiliary plane disposed above the upper fixed plane, a gas bag attachedto the underside of the auxiliary plane, tubular standards mounted on onthe fixed pipes, manually controlled means for simultaneously openingsaid valves and disengaging said'latches, springs disposed in thetubular standards urging the shiftable sections upward when the latchesare released, crossed guy wires connecting the auxiliary ,plane to thefixed plane, and forwardly and rearwardly extending guy wires connectingthe auxiliary plane to the fuselage, said guy wires being normally slackbut being placed under tension when the auxiliary plane is raised.

7. A flying machine having an upwardly bowed plane, a gas bagattached atits edges to the under face of the plane adjacent the margins of theplane and normally deflated, a second fixed plane disposed below thefirst named plane, means for normally holding the first named plane incontiguity to the second named plane with the deflated gas bag betweenthe planes, and means for releasing the first named plane and urging itupward into spaced relation to the second named plane and forcoincidently infiatin the gas bag.

8. In a flying machine, a fixed plane, an auxiliary plane movable towardor from the fixed plane, and a normally deflated gas bag disposedbetween the planes and attached to the surface of one of said planes andnormally held in a folded position between and in contact with theplanes, manually controlled means for relatively shifting the movableplane away from the fixed plane, and manually controlled means forinflating the gas bag. a

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

MELVIN BENT CUMBLER.

lVitnesses:

FREDERIC B. IVRIGHT, M. R. WILSON.

